SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 19 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 7 of 100

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

We doubt SSC's key on this question.

As printed, (d) is also incorrect, since it leaves out Odisha (39% of India's haematite, per IBM), and (c) conflicts with USGS reserve figures that put China above India; the key marks (a) alone.

The answer below is still the option SSC's key marks, and we solve to that option.

Which of the given statements is/are INCORRECT regarding iron ore in India?

(a)Only the hematite ore of iron occurs in India.
(b)In Odisha, iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar.
(c)India consists of the largest reserves of iron ore in Asia.
(d)More than 90% of iron ore reserves are found in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Goa.

Answer

Why

Correct — A. India has two main iron ores, haematite and magnetite, not haematite alone. NCERT's Class 12 geography says so: 'The two main types of ore found in our country are haematite and magnetite.'

The Indian Bureau of Mines puts India's magnetite resources at 11,227 million tonnes (as on 1.4.2020), about 69.5% of it in Karnataka. 'Only the hematite ore' is therefore false → option (a).

Why the others are wrong

(b)
In Odisha, iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar. — This is NCERT's own sentence: in Odisha, iron ore occurs in a series of hill ranges in Sundergarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar. It is correct, so it is not the statement to mark.
(c)
India consists of the largest reserves of iron ore in Asia. — NCERT says India has the largest reserve of iron ore in Asia, and the key treats (c) as correct on that basis. USGS reserve estimates rank China above India, so see the note on the key.
(d)
More than 90% of iron ore reserves are found in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Goa. — The key treats (d) as correct, but it trims NCERT's line that about 95 per cent of reserves lie in eight states. It drops Odisha, which alone holds 39% of India's haematite (IBM).

Concept

India's iron ores are mainly haematite (Fe₂O₃) and magnetite (Fe₃O₄). About 79% of haematite lies in the eastern states and about 93% of magnetite in the southern states.

The Indian Bureau of Mines (resources as on 1.4.2020) puts haematite at 24,057 million tonnes, led by Odisha (39%), Jharkhand (20%) and Chhattisgarh (19%). Magnetite totals 11,227 million tonnes, about 69.5% of it in Karnataka.

The statements come from NCERT's Class 12 chapter on minerals, and (b) and (c) are near-verbatim textbook lines. Statement (a) contradicts the textbook outright, which is why the key marks it.

The stem allows more than one incorrect statement ('is/are'), and the note on the key explains why (c) and (d) are shaky too.

Key facts

India's two main iron ores are haematite and magnetite (NCERT Class 12, India: People and Economy).
IBM, resources as on 1.4.2020: haematite 24,057 million tonnes, with Odisha 39%, Jharkhand 20%, Chhattisgarh 19%, Karnataka 12% and Goa 5%.
IBM, resources as on 1.4.2020: magnetite 11,227 million tonnes, about 69.5% of it in Karnataka.
USGS (Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025) puts China's iron-ore reserves at 20,000 million tonnes of crude ore and India's at 5,500 million tonnes.

Study next

India's iron-ore belts and mines such as Noamundi, Gua, Bailadila and KudremukhHaematite versus magnetite: composition and where each occursReserves versus resources in IBM's UNFC classification

Common traps

Taking a textbook-sounding line as automatically right: (d) echoes NCERT but has lost Odisha and changed 95 to 90.
Reading 'is/are INCORRECT' as a promise of exactly one false statement: the stem allows more.

Iron-ore geography is also asked by district and state: 15 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.14 keys Singhbhum–Jharkhand, and 17 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.14 keys Karnataka as a major contributor to reserves.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Geography — all 179 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.